survivors of ia drang valley

He and Russell Adams are still best friends. LAVENDER, David A. He was chief of security at a hospital in Columbus, Georgia, until his death on April 18, 1992. Other donors to the fund are readers of the book from across America, Veterans, and supporters of the fund. I believe it is so I can share our story.". He co-authored the book We Were Soldiers Once And Young with Hal Moore. He returned to serve two more tours in Vietnamone with the Special Forces, one with an intelligence agency. As the fighting around Landing Zone X-Ray subsided, McDades 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was ordered to move cross-country to Landing Zone Albany, where it was to be picked up by helicopter and moved to a new location. Spc. It wasn't until about two weeks later, as he read Stars and Stripes, that it hit him what he had survived. He is president of the Army Relief Fund and a trustee of the Association of Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. November 14, 1965 marked a pivotal moment in U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Shortly after landing, a U.S. patrol captured an unarmed North Vietnamese deserter who told them that three regiments, roughly an entire division, were hiding in the nearby mountain. Shadden lives on a seven-acre farm outside Tellico Plains, Tennessee, and works part-time at odd jobs. The battle of Ia Drang was an engagement of the Vietnam War. He says he did a lot of praying during the Persian Gulf War, when his son, his brother, and his old friend Galloway were all on the battlefield. He told me his wife's name was [Sylvia]. STINNETT, Robert L., fifty-eight, Bravo Company, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion in LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany, returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour. At a surprise fiftieth-birthday party for Ernie, he was presented a plaque engraved with sergeants stripes and inscribed with a message from Colonel (ret.) In his spare time he camps, climbs, skis, and fishes for trout in the Rockies. We were taking an administrative break, guys were taking off their packs and lighting cigarettes and the enemy was less than 100 yards on our right flank and deploying and we couldn't see 'em or hear 'em," he said. AINSWORTH, Hank, fifty-four, who flew the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav command helicopter in the Ia Drang, retired a chief warrant officer 4 on May 30, 1977, after twenty-two years service. Fought between November 14th and 18th of 1965, around the hills surrounding the valley of Ia Drang, on the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. 1st Lt. Donald Cornett at his base camp in Vietnam, shortly before the battle of Landing Zone Albany where he was killed in action, Nov. 17, 1965. EDWARDS, Robert, fifty-four, commander of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, served a second tour in Vietnam as an adviser. TULLY, Robert (Bob), sixty-eight, commander, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, served a second tour in Vietnam in 1968 as a brigade commander in the Americal Division. We Were Soldiers is based on the novel, We Were Soldiers Once and Young: Ia Drang The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam, by renowned war correspondent Joe Galloway and Lt. Gen. Hal Moore. After the Ia Drang, Nye finished his tour with the 8th Engineers and the 1st Cav and volunteered for three more tours in combat with the 5th Special Forces Group. Alex Kolyer for MPR News On this Veterans Day,. I thought to myself. The North Vietnamese attempt one final attack, but are soon overrun and ordered to evacuate the headquarters they took only a few days prior. The majority of the battle was fought in the valley of Ia Drang, Vietnam by 3rd Battalion, 7th Calvary and was the first major test of air . He is married and the father of two children. (67 votes) Very easy. 4 Oscar E . You need a Find a Grave account to continue. . He and his wife live in St. Charles, a suburb of Chicago. He was paralyzed. This operation responded to the NVA attack on an American . The Pleiku Campaign took place from 20 October to 26 . USA, Fort Benning, Now I felt terribly alone. On 27 October Westmoreland committed a brigade of the 1st Air Cavalry to search-and-destroy operations. He earned a doctorate in history and now lives in San Antonio, where he works in the public-affairs office at Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center. The Ia Drang Valley is where the U.S. truly went to war. On November 14, 1965, 450 American soldiers of the 1st Air Cavalry Division were airlifted by helicopter to this valley with the intention of locating and eliminating North Vietnamese forces. Background. Moore is the last to leave, refusing to do so until every man living and dead has left. He and his wife live in Alexandria, Virginia. in history. In Washington, Ia Drang convinced Johnson that he was in for a long, bloody war. (Tony), fifty-six, commander of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, later earned a masters degree in psychology and taught at West Point and at the Army War College. He would recover after some physical therapy and return to duty in 1966 to finish his tour. The IDV is the valley through which the river (Ia) Drang flows and is drained by the Ia Drang, Ia Puck and an extensive network of small streams flowing west and southwest across the Cambodian border into the Mekong River. The fighting continued all day and into the night with the enemy relentlessly making assault after assault. Although each survivor's story is unique, . He spent more than 14 hours in the air andcompleted a total of 22 flights, most under intense enemy fire. Nebraska, A U.S. platoon was lured into a trap and surrounded, holding off repeated North Vietnamese attacks despite the death of the platoon leader and several noncommissioned officers. "I'm just as guilty. Russian missile barrage knocks out power and water to Ukrainian cities December 16, 2022. The mission of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is to honor and preserve the legacy of service and educate all generations about the impact of the Vietnam War. Enlisted men may scoff at officers back in the billets but when the fighting begins, the men automatically become dependent upon them. Unknown to them at the time, they were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and owns and operates a real estate brokerage firm. One of the most significant battles of the Vietnam War, the 14-16 November 1965 battle in the Ia Drang Valley in South Vietnam's central highlands between the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the 33rd and 66th Regiments of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) marked a watershed change in the military strategies of both sides. Fred Gilreath of Surgoinsville holds a framed photo of his older brother Luther Gilreath who was killed 50 years ago on the second day of the Battle of Ia Drang, Nov. 15, 1965. He teaches physical and earth sciences at Venice High School, Los Angeles, California. "Back then Stars and Stripes would carry the casualty reports and I had a red pen and started checking off the names of guys I knew who were listed as KIA. He is assistant principal of a public high school in the Bronx. The fighting continued for three hours. In January 1991, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf summoned the reporter to his headquarters in Saudi Arabia and said: Im sending you to the commander out here who is most like General Hal Moore, and the division which has the most challenging and dangerous mission in my battle plan. Galloway rode with then-Major General Barry McCaffrey and the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) on a hair-raising tank charge through the western Iraq desert to the Euphrates River valley. LOSE, Charles R., the medic of the Lost Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, has dropped out of sight. OUELLETTE, Robert, fifty, battalion commanders radio operator in LZ X-Ray, left the Army in August 1966. I couldnt grasp it., More from us: Val Kilmer Accidentally Landed Matthew Modine the Starring Role in Full Metal Jacket. Freeman reconstituted the unit and led it back up Pork Chop. ROZANSKI, Gordon P. (Rosie), fifty-four, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry S-4 in the Ia Drang, was wounded in both arms, both legs, and the stomach in the Bong Son campaign in early 1966. PLUMLEY, Basil, seventy-two, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalrys sergeant major, retired from the Army as a command sergeant major on December 31, 1974, after thirty-two years, six months, and four days on active duty, and a second tour in Vietnam with the U.S. There was a problem getting your location. I attended every one of those funerals., LEFEBVRE, L. R. (Ray), fifty-nine, commander of Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, spent eighteen months at Martin Army Hospital, Fort Benning, recovering from the wounds he suffered at X-Ray. Crandalls back was broken; he spent five months in an Army hospital recovering. Lawrence dropped to the ground to take cover in the tall elephant grass and began to return fire like any other rifleman. Finally, after 10 months, had some makeshift buildings. The film follows the experiences of both Moore, portrayed by Mel Gibson, and his wife, Julia, played by Madeleine Stowe. Shucart says, It was interesting; they just figured I was another grunt and I didnt tell them different. Recalling the aftermath of the fight, he said, Back then Stars and Stripes would carry the casualty reports and I had a red pen and started checking off the names of guys I knew who were listed as KIA. 5 memorials LTC Roger Jay Bartholomew 2 Nov 1932 - 27 Nov 1968 Westlawn-Hillcrest Memorial Park He and his wife live in Phoenix, Arizona. On his next flight, three soldiers on his helicopter were killed and three were wounded. He and his wife, Kathie, live on a seventy-acre ranch near Aspen, Colorado, where he owns and operates an outfitting company for fishing and boating trips. (U.S. Army). James Lawrence, a 77 year-old Vietnam veteran from Alabama, tells people about his best friend and the battle he died in whenever he gets the chance. He retired in 1990. Still on active duty, he is a major general, and is deputy to the Army inspector-general. He went home to Murphysboro, Illinois. Hear Bruces story. ADAMS, Warren, sixty-two, first sergeant, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, retired in 1968 as the best-educated command sergeant major in the Army. The battle was later dramatized in the film We Were Soldiers. When someone shook me and tried to get me moving I was actually offended. SETELIN, John, forty-eight, squad leader, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, left Vietnam with three Purple Hearts and left the Army a sergeant. The losses at Ia Drang prompted the North Vietnamese to rethink their plan to confront U.S. forces with large, conventional formations, reverting to hit-and-run attacks where U.S. air and artillery power was less effective. His friend, James Lawrence, speaks with organizations and Soldiers about the lessons learned from the Army engineer recognized for exemplary work in obsolescence management, Norway adds top-tier military experience to State Partnership Program, Army's Environmental Restoration Program revitalizes contaminated lands, Army Lt. Col. Adams: A pioneer worthy of commemoration, US and UAE soldiers train together at Joint Readiness Training Center, Unified network operations underpins Army's digital transformation, SMA plans to reward Soldiers who meet rising standards. KENNEDY, Glenn F., first sergeant, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was killed in action on May 6, 1966, during Operation Davy Crockett in the Bong Son plain. He and his wife, Ann, live in Lilburn, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He now manages the quartermaster laundry at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and lives in Clarksville, Tennessee. After a second career as a consultant to defense industries on the West Coast, he retired again and lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, Libby. He underwent four operations on his shattered hip and then was shipped home for discharge on December 21, 1965, ten days overdue on his two-year hitch and judged fifty percent disabled. In January 1968, over the Bong Son plain, Crandalls Huey was blown out of the sky by an air strike while flying a nap-of-the-earth search for a downed helicopter. MORENO, Frank, copilot in Ed Too Tall Freemans Huey in X-Ray, retired a chief warrant officer-4 after more than twenty years service. In the last operation, his shattered left knee joint was removed and the leg bones fused, leaving his left leg frozen straight and two inches shorter than his right leg. By whatever measure, the chaotic, bloody Battle of the Ia Drang Valley set the tone for the rest of war. The Battle of Ia Drang Valley was a series of engagements between the U.S 1st Cavalry Division and the B-3 front, North Vietnamese Army. His son is a staff sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War. FESMIRE, John A. "Survivor's guilt is something that most people who have seen combat, seen friends die, deal with almost daily," Lawrence said. The four day battle in the Ia Drang Valley began on the morning of November 14, 1965 when the 1st battalion of the 7th Cavalry, my sister battalion, landed in a clearing at the foot of Chu Pong Mountain. President Johnson Jeanie Hunter in Oskaloosa, Ia on November 24, 1984 and she survives bikinis. The 430 troops of the 1st Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division loaded into helicopters and were dropped into the Ia Drang valley. He moved back to his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. 1/7 Cavalry lands at LZ X-Ray. Elements of the Armys 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) entered the first major land battle of the war at landing zones X-Ray and Albany, which would turn out to be proving grounds for a whole new kind of warfare. Book Sources: The Battle of Ia Drang Valley We were soldiers once -and young : Ia Drang, the battle that changed the war in Vietnam by Ha Moore; Joseph Galloway Call Number: Boca Raton General Collection DS557.8.I18 M66 1992 ISBN: 0679411585 Publication Date: 1992-10-20 Everyman in Vietnam by Michael Adas; Joseph J. Gilch Tully retired a colonel in 1976. Survivors described savage, close-range combat, sometimes hand-to-hand, over several hours. Among the survivors of the ambush was 1st Lt. Rick Rescorla, a platoon leader who died Sept. 11, 2001, rescuing people from the World Trade Centers south tower until it crashed around him. Another 71 Americans had been killed in earlier, smaller skirmishes that led up to the Ia Drang battles. The fighting continued all day and into the night. Jeanette spent the better part of a year in a military hospital while his shattered leg was repaired. In March 1991 he found a new purpose in life: meeting the chartered airliners touching down at Bangor International Airport, the first American landfall, bringing American soldiers home from the Persian Gulf. Diduryk is buried at the Fort Benning cemetery; his widow, Delores, lives in Jacksonville, Florida. On November 14, 1965, Captain Ed Freeman made repeated flights into the Ia Drang Valley under intense fire to bring in supplies and evacuate the wounded. Assigned to intelligence duty in Europe in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Adams earned a bachelors degree from the University of Austria in Vienna, a masters degree in history at the University in Innsbruck, and a doctorate of psychology from Munich Universityall under an assumed name. ROLAND, William, forty-nine, rifle-squad leader, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at X-Ray, returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Roswell, New Mexico, where they run an antiques shop. On February 26, 2007, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Ia Drang Valley. Companies C and D took the brunt of the Communist attack, and most of the men were quickly hit. When I go to the wall, I see Don Cornett's name 58,000 times.'. The Battle that changed the war in vietnam Overview A Vietnamese military maxim states: He who controls the Central Highlands controls South Vietnam. In her spare time, Rosemary enjoys spending time with her partner, her cats, and her horse, or sitting down to read a good book. Terms of Use | They resupplied ammunition, water, and supplies, while evacuating the wounded. He did not know at the time that his friend, Don Cornett, had died. He works at Fort Benning, Georgia, evaluating Army Reserve training. Edwards is the acting borough manager of Dublin, Pennsylvania; he and his wife, Nancy, live in nearby New Hope. It was a battle between one US division and three NVA regiments. This is the tale of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965. 208-263-9534. MICELI, Carmen, forty-eight, rifleman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at LZ X-Ray, completed a full tour in Vietnam and left the Army in September 1966. This is the tale of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965. The plane hit several tombstones and flipped over. Payne and his wife, Patty, live in Hinsdale, Illinois, and have three children. I've also included soldiers who survived and died later and the wife of the commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, Julia Moore for her role in supporting the grieving widows of the men slain. A Chicago native, Doc Carrara returned home, changed his specialty to pathology. 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